News live: Australia to give 49 retired Abrams tanks to Ukraine; business council calls for looser zoning laws | Australia news

Sarah Basford Canales

More on the joint union’s statement

Yesterday’s rift between trade union factions coincided with a forum between building and construction contractors and unions and governments on challenges for the sector.

At yesterday’s meeting, the National Construction Industry Forum agreed to develop a blueprint for reform due to be delivered in six months’ time.

The workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, said “working together to address the persistent challenges facing this industry is key to ensuring it is an industry that works for everyone”.

Watt later told ABC radio he didn’t believe there was a divide in the trade union movement at all. Watt said:

There is no doubt whatsoever that the overwhelming majority of unions and union members support action being taken to clean up the CFMEU. I think that the union movement generally acknowledges that it has been very damaging for the union movement as a whole to have a small number of people within the union movement bring disgrace on the union movement and the very good work that unions do for Australians.

Asked whether the split would present issues with the federal government’s reform, Watt said he was “going to get on with it”.

We’re going to get on with cleaning up the CFMEU Construction Division and developing a construction industry that works for everyone. If other people want to go and have other meetings, that’s fine. But I’m more convinced than ever, having spoken to the ACTU National Executive, that the union movement supports change.

Group of 20 unions defy Albanese overhaul

Sarah Basford Canales

A group of more than 20 trade unions have defied the Albanese government’s attempts to overhaul unions within the construction industry after allegations of corruption and criminal links made against the CFMEU earlier this year.

Yesterday afternoon, the National Building Industry Group of Unions condemned the federal Labor government for placing the embattled union under administration.

In a statement, the group said the CFMEU had been denied “basic natural justice” in a trial by parliament and the media. The statement continued:

If a government can legislate outcomes for one union, then all unions are at risk. A union belongs to its members. Union members and their democratically elected leaders decide the future of their union, not knee-jerk legislation.

The group, which includes leaders from the CFMEU, and the Communications, Electrical and Plumbing Union (CEPU), will hold a Trade Unions for Democracy Summit in December to discuss proposals for the creation of an alternative to the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU), which has backed the government’s response to allegations against to the CFMEU.

Good morning

Emily Wind

And happy Thursday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage today.

As always, you can reach out with any tips or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Crossbenchers to bring whistleblower protection bill next month

Sarah Basford Canales

Four independent crossbenchers will introduce a bill to establish a whistleblower protection authority when Parliament resumes next month.

Tasmanian MP Andrew Wilkie will introduce the proposal, supported by crossbench colleagues Helen Haines, David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie, to create a new body that will support federal whistleblowers, investigate potential retaliation by employers, and ensure disclosures are properly handled.

The private member’s bill will come almost a year-and-half after the National Anti-Corruption Commission first opened its doors, and more than a year after the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, confirmed a protection body was one of a number of options under consideration.

Dreyfus has previously said the government is “committed to ensuring that Australia has effective protections for whistleblowers”.

But Wilkie said the introduction of a standalone protection body was “long overdue”.

The government must end the war against whistleblowers by supporting my bill. Only then can we ensure whistleblowers are protected, not punished, prosecuted or imprisoned.

The crossbenchers are urging the major parties to support the bill.

The announcement coincides with a hearing in the ACT supreme court this morning to determine when former army lawyer David McBride – who is considered by some to be a war crimes whistleblower – will be able to have his appeal heard.

McBride was jailed in May for five years and eight months after pleading guilty to three charges in November 2023 of stealing commonwealth information and passing that to journalists at the ABC.

The documents formed the basis of the 2017 investigative series exposing alleged war crimes by Australian defence force personnel in Afghanistan, titled the Afghan Files.

BCA says changing zoning laws will open up housing supply

Karen Middleton

Big business is urging the federal government to change zoning laws to allow more housing development close to infrastructure and services as part of a push to force a greater focus on increasing housing supply.

Before publishing a report next week examining the housing supply challenge, the Business Council of Australia has proposed a program of land rezoning and changes to generate greater consistency in zoning laws across the states and territories.

The BCA chief executive, Bran Black, said:

We need state and territory governments to unlock more land for homes in cities and towns across Australia so we can fix this supply crisis.

These changes need to allow for greater density and height near good transport services, while at the same time protecting the quality of life, green space and heritage of an area.

He said there should be more streamlined processes for home builders to put forward their own proposals to boost housing supply thorough rezoning.

The BCA is also calling for what it describes as a “competition payment” to create incentives for housing development.

Earlier this week, the BCA called for local councils to be forced to set, and abide by, deadlines for making decisions on housing development applications, to ease what it argued had become a bottleneck at the local government level.

Australia to donate 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine

Daniel Hurst

Australia will donate 49 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, the federal government has announced.

The donation is in addition to previously announced support, which included 120 Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles.

Government figures indicate the value of the 49 M1A1 Abrams tanks is about $245m in total. It means that the total value of Australia’s military assistance to Ukraine since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country has topped $1.3bn. When non-military support is included, Australia’s overall support to Ukraine is valued at $1.5bn to date.

The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, will represent Australia at the Nato defence ministers’ meeting in Brussels this week. Australia is not a member of Nato but Conroy is expected to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart.

Conroy said in a statement that the tanks would “deliver more firepower and mobility to the Ukrainian armed forces, and complement the support provided by our partners for Ukraine”.

The 49 tanks to be donated are near the end of their life. Sources said this meant that a small number of these tanks may need to be fixed by Australia before being delivered. Alternatively, the Australian government has offered to deliver all of the tanks quickly and Ukraine could use the ones with issues for spare parts. It will be left to Ukraine to decide which option to take up.

The Australian army, meanwhile, is expected to retain a small number of M1A1 Abrams tanks to assist the transition and introduction of the new M1A2 fleet.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, said:

Australia’s support for Ukraine has not wavered since Russia’s illegal invasion, and Australia will continue standing with Ukraine.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Emily Wind.

In a boost to Ukraine’s war effort – as its president presents a new military strategy dubbed a “victory plan” against Russia – Australia has offered Ukraine almost all of its Abrams tanks, which were due to retire next year. More on this soon.

The South Australian bill to change the law on later terminations was narrowly defeated in the state’s upper house last night. By the narrowest margin of 10 votes to nine, the upper house last night voted to reject legislation that would force women seeking an abortion after 27 weeks and six days – an extremely rare occurrence – to be induced, to deliver the child alive, and keep it or adopt it out.

Anthony Albanese may face renewed backbench pressure to ease capital gains tax concessions, as Labor MPs privately express dismay at his decision to buy a $4.3m waterfront home on the New South Wales Central Coast before an election in the middle of a housing crisis. Meanwhile, big business is urging the federal government to change zoning laws to allow more housing development close to infrastructure and services as part of a push to force a greater focus on increasing housing supply. More coming up.

The most prominent republicans concede the challenges they face to have an Australian head of state, but also claim the arrival this week of King Charles and Queen Camilla may be the shot in the arm their campaign needs. We have a full report and analysis, plus our Full Story podcast on the subject.

And a group of building industry unions say they plan an alternative to the ACTU as they unite to reject Labor’s crackdown on the CFMEU. More on that also coming up.